"Somebody was screaming, screaming as the plane drove down into the water. Someone screamed tight animal screams of fear and pain and [Brian] did not know that it was, this sound, that he roared against the water that took him and the plane still deeper, down in the water. He saw nothing but sensed blue, cold blue-green. . . ." —
A. SYNOPSIS
The opening pages of Hatchet introduce readers to Brian Robeson, a boy from Hampton, NewYork, who is traveling to a Canadian oil field to visit his father. This is the first summer that he is going to stay with his father since his parents’ recent divorce. Brian is the only passenger on the small single-engine plane that will take him to Canada. Little does he know that this trip will change his life forever. Over the Canadian wilderness, the pilot suffers a major heart attack and dies, leaving Brian to crash-land the plane by himself. With nothing but the hatchet his mother gave him before he left, Brian must now face the wilderness alone and find out whether he can survive.
Note: The novel is the first of a series: Hatchet: The River, Brian’s Winter, and Brian’s Return.
B. THE TIME AND PLACE
Most of Hatchet takes place somewhere in the forests of Ontario or Quebec, in a region called the Canadian Shield. Carved out by glaciers long ago, the region is made up of ancient granite rock. It extends, in a horseshoe shape, from the southern edge of the Arctic Islands around Hudson Bay, and over to the eastern coast of Newfoundland. The climate in the northern part of the Canadian Shield is extremely cold, with average temperatures in July ranging from forty to fifty degrees. The climate in the southern part is similar to that of the northern United States, with cold winters and mild summers. More than one hundred inches of snow fall in Ontario and Quebec every winter. Low-lying hills and thousands of lakes for the landscape of the Canadian Shield. In fact, Canada has more lakes and inland waterways than does any other nation. Almost half of Canada, and most of the Canadian Shield, is covered with forests. The trees are a mix of evergreen and deciduous, or leaf-bearing, varieties. Within this terrain of lakes and forests live black bears, brown bears, wolves, coyotes,foxes, skunks, Canadian porcupines, beavers and muskrats. The Canadian Shield is rich in mineral deposits. Large amounts of iron ore are mined on the border of Quebec and Newfoundland. Deposits of cobalt, copper, gold, nickel, and uranium are found in Ontario. In addition, Canada has large reserves of crude petroleum and natural gas.
In Parrot in the Oven, young adult protagonist Manny’s perspective guides the plot of the novel through a series of “slice of life” visions (each chapter) of one incident in Manny’s or another family member’s life.
B. Themes/Issues/Emotions
Racism
Heritage
Social Class
Self-identification
Family Abuse/Family relations—dysfunctional family living in chaos
Interracial relationships—both romantic and nonromantic
Institutional responses to Mexican Americans
Alcohol abuse
C. Literary Concepts
metaphor (title in chapter 4)
symbol
dialect (Spanglish)—also go back and forth between English and Spanish
Mexican mythology (bruja, for example)
Point of view—first person narrative (Manny)
D. Literary and Filmic Connections:
Real Women Have Curves
Sandra Cisneros (House on Mango Street, Carmelo, etc.)
Pat Mora (poet)
Gloria Anzaldua (Borderlands)
Joy Harjo—poet
Gabriel Garcia Marquez (100 Years of Solitude—Love in the Time of Cholera)
Gary Paulsen's Hatchet
"Somebody was screaming, screaming as the plane drove down into the water. Someone screamed tight animal screams of fear and pain and [Brian] did not know that it was, this sound, that he roared against the water that took him and the plane still deeper, down in the water. He saw nothing but sensed blue, cold blue-green. . . ."—
A. SYNOPSIS
The opening pages of Hatchet introduce readers to Brian Robeson, a boy from Hampton, NewYork, who is traveling to a Canadian oil field to visit his father. This is the first summer that he is going to stay with his father since his parents’ recent divorce. Brian is the only passenger on the small single-engine plane that will take him to Canada. Little does he know that this trip will change his life forever. Over the Canadian wilderness, the pilot suffers a major heart attack and dies, leaving Brian to crash-land the plane by himself. With nothing but the hatchet his mother gave him before he left, Brian must now face the wilderness alone and find out whether he can survive.
Note: The novel is the first of a series: Hatchet: The River, Brian’s Winter, and Brian’s Return.
B. THE TIME AND PLACE
Most of Hatchet takes place somewhere in the forests of Ontario or Quebec, in a region called the Canadian Shield. Carved out by glaciers long ago, the region is made up of ancient granite rock. It extends, in a horseshoe shape, from the southern edge of the Arctic Islands around Hudson Bay, and over to the eastern coast of Newfoundland. The climate in the northern part of the Canadian Shield is extremely cold, with average temperatures in July ranging from forty to fifty degrees. The climate in the southern part is similar to that of the northern United States, with cold winters and mild summers. More than one hundred inches of snow fall in Ontario and Quebec every winter. Low-lying hills and thousands of lakes for the landscape of the Canadian Shield. In fact, Canada has more lakes and inland waterways than does any other nation. Almost half of Canada, and most of the Canadian Shield, is covered with forests. The trees are a mix of evergreen and deciduous, or leaf-bearing, varieties. Within this terrain of lakes and forests live black bears, brown bears, wolves, coyotes,foxes, skunks, Canadian porcupines, beavers and muskrats. The Canadian Shield is rich in mineral deposits. Large amounts of iron ore are mined on the border of Quebec and Newfoundland. Deposits of cobalt, copper, gold, nickel, and uranium are found in Ontario. In addition, Canada has large reserves of crude petroleum and natural gas.
Paulsen Page from YA lit class
Hatchet Wiki Page
Victor Martinez’s Parrot in the Oven
A. Synopsis:
In Parrot in the Oven, young adult protagonist Manny’s perspective guides the plot of the novel through a series of “slice of life” visions (each chapter) of one incident in Manny’s or another family member’s life.
B. Themes/Issues/Emotions
C. Literary Concepts
D. Literary and Filmic Connections:
Parrot in the Oven Novel Link
Parrot in the Oven as Bildungsroman